


Spring Awakening

by LadySilviana



Series: Seasons of Love [3]
Category: The Magicians (TV), The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Boys In Love, Established Relationship, Flash Fic, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Spring, bike rides in fillory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 06:12:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14868233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadySilviana/pseuds/LadySilviana
Summary: Quentin convinces Eliot to bring some bikes over to Fillory because cycling through the royal parks in the spring time just seems like a good idea.





	Spring Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own The Magicians, etc, etc...
> 
>  
> 
> I haven't written in ages because *life*, so this is a rather belated addition to my "Seasons of Love" mini-series featuring springtime in Fillory... and bike rides.

Spring smelled like ecstasy from the seat of a speeding bike and Quentin couldn’t help but smile. Around him the winding path twinkled in and out of the evening shadows cast by gently rustling trees.

“If I’d known that cycling made you so happy I might have given it a shot earlier,” came Eliot’s drawling voice from his right, making Quentin laugh. Spring air hit him square in the face, at once both warm and cool, exhilarating in that way that only new beginnings were.

“Oh El,” Quentin sighed, “You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t make me beg for it!”

It was true- when Quentin had proposed a bike ride Eliot had whined and complained profusely, claiming biking was quite an unnecessary physical exertion. Then, of course, there was the added trouble of getting a pair of bikes over from their world and into Fillory where no one had invented them yet...

But after Quentin had seen the royal parks in springtime- all lush and gloriously green and fragrant with the scent of a thousand flowers- there was no getting the idea out of his head.

Quentin swerved his bike around a fat, lethargic hare that he came upon too late. The frightened animal squealed and scrambled out of the way right in the nick of time as the bike flew past it.

“Watch where you are going asshole!” The dislodged hare shouted after them, rising up on its hind legs.

“Sorry!” Quentin shouted back before catching Eliot’s eye and bursting into a fresh bout of laughter. Earth profanity was really catching on among the talking animals.

“You know, I forgot how fun this could be,” Eliot slowly lifted both hands off his handlebars as they drifted along. “Haven’t really ridden a bike since I was a kid.”

Quentin copied him, arms spread to the sides, throwing his head back and letting the wind rush through him.

For a time they rode in silence.

“I used to do this a lot back in Brooklyn,” Quentin said finally. “When things would get too much. T’was one of the only things that could get me out of my head for a bit. The rush of air... the steady rhythm of your body working... the adrenaline...”

“It makes you forget,” Eliot chimed in.

Quentin closed his eyes for a second...

“Q- watch out!”

It was too late- the front wheel of the bike hit a bump and the next thing Quentin knew he was flying through the air. Blunt pain jarred his knees and palms as he landed on fresh, green grass.  
“Owww,” Quentin moaned and giggled at the same time, rolling over to lie sprawling on the ground. Dampness from the evening dew soaked through his shirt and goosebumps rose up on his suddenly chilled skin.

Quentin’s head spun from the fall, making the stars in the sky spin around with it. He heard the clunking as Eliot jumped off and dropped his bike on the ground and the taller man’s footsteps approaching him hurriedly.

“Q...?”

“I’m ok, El.” Quentin responded to the note of slight concern in Eliot’s voice.

“You’re bleeding.”

Quentin rose up on his elbows and looked down. There was a tear on the pants of his left leg and a small stream of blood was quickly soaking through the fabric.

“Hmmm- must have glanced off a rock or something.”

Eliot knelt down in front of him and looked over the injury.

“You really aught to be careful,” the older man caught sight of a rose bush immediately to their left- its white blossoms, heavy with full bloom, swaying in the light wind. Eliot reached out a slender hand, his long fingers plucking out a flower.

“What are you doing?” Quentin asked.

“Something random,” Eliot gently touched the white blossom to Quentin’s bleeding knee. The petals of the flower smudged the blood, becoming stained with a violent red. Pulling the flower back Eliot twirled it between his fingers, muttering an incantation under his breath. Sparks momentarily shot from his fingertips and traveled along the edges of the flower making it seem as though it were bathed in an electric current.

“There,” Eliot flashed a gleaming smile and handed the flower over to Quentin. “Now it will remain like this forever.”   

Something about the way the other man leaned over him, evening shadows bouncing in his curls, an enchanted, blood-stained flower grasped in his pale hand, made Quentin realize that this was one of those rare moments that would stay imprinted in his memory for life.

His hand closed around Eliot’s own, holding the proffered rose between them.

“Are you sure you are ok?” Eliot whispered.

“Yeah... I just feel so... _alive_.”


End file.
